Whittier nonprofit's CEO cares for The Whole Child

WHITTIER - As one of eight children growing up in rural New Mexico, Charlene Dimas-Peinado witnessed her mother Oralda performing random acts of kindness.

Whether Oralda was donating clothes, feeding hungry visitors or caring for a motherless deaf boy while his dad worked, Dimas-Peinado came to realize her stay-at-home mom was really a quasi-social worker.

"She had this real sense of justice about her - justice for children and people," said Dimas-Peinado, a licensed clinical social worker. "That was how she influenced me."

Today, Dimas-Peinado is the chief executive of The Whole Child, a nonprofit established 55 years ago to provide mental-health services for abused and at-risk kids.

Many of them struggle with depression, anxiety disorders or post-traumatic stress, Dimas-Peinado said. Some are suicidal.

"A lot of the children that come to us have been abused, physically, sexually, emotionally," said Dimas-Peinado, who joined the nonprofit as a therapist 22 years ago.

"Many children have been removed from the home and placed in the foster-care system," she said. "Oftentimes parents are substance abusing. A lot of neglect happens because of that."

The nonprofit assesses, diagnoses and treats children with severe emotional, behavioral or mental health issues. Treatment usually involves individual, family or group therapy and sometimes medication if psychotherapy is not enough, Dimas-Peinado said.

The Whittier-based nonprofit has really grown under Dimas-Peinado's leadership, said board member Margo Kaatz.

"She's very much a visionary," Kaatz said. "She helps point out that vision for the board, her leadership team and her staff ... She's very willing to go out there and make it work."

Last year the agency began providing housing services to homeless families via landlords and property management firms.

The bulk of these families' rent is paid by the agency, with tenants contributing 30 percent of their income until they can manage on their own, Dimas-Peinado said. They also get help with mental health issues, job training and money management.

The Whole Child also just opened a new center at 12225 Beverly Boulevard to serve children from birth to age 5.

The home-based Early Attachments program was launched seven years ago, but it now has its own center and an expanded staff. That's significant because the youngest children are the most vulnerable, Dimas-Peinado said.

Single mom Kandra Mittelbuscher, 29, of Pico Rivera was referred two years ago while living at a women's shelter. A therapist has regularly visited her and her young daughter, who had severe behavioral problems and was recently diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Today, the 7-year-old is on the honor roll and is responding well to positive reinforcement techniques Mittelbuscher learned from her therapist. She also got help to move into an apartment.

"I'm very, very grateful," she said.

Walter Rivas, 21, of Whittier, was a high school junior when he started seeing one of their therapists. His mother - the victim of her husband's drug abuse and domestic violence - was worried about her son's state of mind and sought help through a school counselor.

"If it wasn't for The Whole Child and the few friends I had, I don't understand where I would have been," said Rivas, now working in retail with ambitions for his future. "It was really a dark time."